Brianne West: Ethique founder and former CEO on the world's first waste-free drinks company Incrediballs

A Kiwi startup is launching a world first beverage, designed to reduce plastic pollution created by other drink companies. 

Incrediballs is the world’s first plastic-free, effervescent drink tablet, which dissolves in water to create a flavoured drink. 

Created by Ethique founder and former CEO Brianne West, it hopes to offer an alternative to single-use plastic. 

She told Mike Hosking it's a game changer as normal effervescent tablets are fundamentally unstable and must be sealed in plastic or metal. 

She says scientists have been working on stabilising these elements. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
What we have. While they claim a world first for
a key we startup. It's a fizzy drink that doesn't
need a plastic bottle, so you drop it in water.
At Fizzers, you've got a soft drink. Cuts out the
five hundred and eighty three billion single use plastic bottles
produced globally year. Now the company is targeting a million
in revenue by next year, ambitions to scale to a
billion and export businesses. Brian Wester is behind it. She's
the founder of incredib balls.

Speaker 2 (00:21):
And is with us.

Speaker 1 (00:22):
Brian morning, good morning. Did I say that right? In
credit balls? Do you emphasize the balls?

Speaker 2 (00:29):
I don't, but blows tend too, so you can say
it how you like.

Speaker 1 (00:32):
There we go, well said as so it is a ball,
obviously you drop it in water. Is it any different
from a you know, like I don't know, my lantern
interigestion tablet type fizz that you already got.

Speaker 2 (00:41):
Well, I mean it tasts a lot better, but no,
the theory is the same, exactly the same. It's like
a bath bomb. It's the exact same. There is a
bath bomb, but it definitely tastes better than a bathtmb.

Speaker 1 (00:50):
Okay is there anything, How have you done it technically
scientifically that recreates a taste sensation that I would take
that over a bottle.

Speaker 2 (01:02):
Well, we have very clever scientists to figured out how
to so ef avercence react, which is what you call
stuff that fizzles and watrate. They react with it's moisture
in the ear. So they also have to package and
things like plastic around aminion. And for the last seven
to eight years, scientists have been moving on how to
stabilize these because it's kind of a big problem throughout
the industry, and that is what incredibles are based on,

(01:24):
and that's why it's a will first in terms of
plastic metal glass free drinks. The taste that was almost
the easy well, it was the easy bit because natural
flavors and colors and things have come an awfully long way,
and the colar tastes exactly like a coaler. It's mind blowing,
is it?

Speaker 1 (01:44):
What's a cost for a ball retail price?

Speaker 2 (01:48):
If you buy a single package a lot more excludes
are buying a six pack, but you've looked at it.
Depending on on what pack size you're looking at, you
two to three bucks a drink, which people say, oh,
that could be a bit steep, but it is if
you compare it to say budget can is say a
color But I don't know. When you look at a
power age or something at a dairy, it starts talk
a lot more reasonable. It's a funny thing pricing in it.

(02:09):
It's all about visual perspective and courses are tiny.

Speaker 1 (02:13):
What do you reckon? How have you worked out how
well this is going to go? What's your vibe on this?
I mean, is this going to be the next big thing?
Or this could be a fizzer? See when I did that?

Speaker 2 (02:25):
Very good, a great question. I have no idea and
I'm largely terrified for launch next week. We're going to
take the next six months kind of quietly, so it's
sales online only to see what people think. We have
done an awful lot of tastiest thing we've had sort
of big tastest parties which we're quite cool and very
illuminating stuff some face but who knows because I'm.

Speaker 1 (02:49):
Looking you up again because I haven't dealt with you
for a number of years. But when I asked he
are you an entrepreneur or an environmentalist? Because you call
yourself by first, if you're one thing what are you first?
An entrepreneur environmentalist?

Speaker 2 (03:00):
I don't know if I call myself an environments because
I don't think I have the like chops, but people do.
I think I'm an entrepreneurst, but I don't believe business
and environmentalism need to be as separate as people think
they do. Well.

Speaker 1 (03:13):
I wish you all the very best with it. Brianna West,
who's the founder of Incredibles. She was part of Supersize Me.
You remember Supersized Me seven eight years ago. That was
fantastic and she was one of the Ethic was the
company that she was involved with. So she's got new
ideas and we wish you all the very best with that.
We'll go buy some balls. We'll get some balls, and
we go get us some balls. We'll get some balls

(03:33):
and we'll do a taste test. We weren't invited to
the taste test party because we don't go to parties
because we're not cool. We could get do the whole
coaler thing and you can see if you can pick
which one because you're such a big fan of coal.
As usually, I love you for more from the Mi
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